Ending one of the most drawn out and closely watched casting searches for an actress in years, Sony Pictures Entertainment and director David Fincher have chosen Rooney Mara to play Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the film that begins shooting this fall in Sweden, with Daniel Craig starring. The film will be released December 21, 2011. Rooney was considered Fincher's first choice in the process: the director had just helmed her in The Social Network. Closing a deal will amount to a formality, because Mara essentially agreed to terms when she and other young actresses signed on to tests that Fincher and producer Scott Rudin have conducted over the past several weeks. Her deal includes an option for two sequels that will cover The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, the second and third books in the Millennium Trilogy by the late author Stieg Larsson. The books continue the same murder conspiracy storyline.
Deadline revealed that Craig was signed a deal with two options weeks ago to play Mikael Blomkvist, the investigative journalist and part owner of the magazine Millennium, and Deadline also broke the story that Robin Wright was in talks to play Erika Berger, his occasional bed partner and the publisher of Millennium. Stellan Skarsgard was also reportedly in talks to play Martin Vanger, who joins the magazine's board.
The search for Salander has been the role that really captured the public fancy. Slight of frame and short, Salander is a brilliant but troubled computer hacker who helps Blomkvist unravel a decades-long murder mystery. The storyline is as dark as the subject matter that Fincher tackled in Seven, and subsequent books establish Salander as far more than Blomkvist's sidekick (and occasional lover). While established actresses have been named as being in contention for the role -- Natalie Portman (who tried to buy the books early on), Ellen Page (who filmed her own test), Carey Mulligan and most recently Scarlett Johansson -- Fincher has focused his testing process on discovering an actress who fits Salander physically and in age proximity, which is early 20s. Mara was among a group of young actresses that included Alice In Wonderland star Mia Wasikowska, Sucker Punch's Emily Browning (even though neither actress signed test deals), Fish Tank's Katie Jarvis. Mara tested along with Sophie Lowe, Sarah Snook and French actress Lea Seydoux.
Mara is a strong match: she is the right age and looks like Salander. She also had the advantage of working with Fincher and Rudin on The Social Network. The sister of Brokeback Mountain's Kate Mara and the great granddaughter of New York Giants football team founder Wellington Mara and Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney, Mara was most recently seen in the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. Mara is repped by WME.
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